2018

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B-CU Named Finalist for 2016 HBCU Awards

BETHUNE-COOKMAN UNIVERSITY IS NAMED FINALIST FOR 2016 HBCU AWARDS

The University Will Be Up for Three Awards: President of the Year, Business Program of the Year and Alumnus of the Year

June 2, 2016 – HBCU Digest recently announced its finalists for the 6th Annual HBCU Awards. B-CU is named a finalist in three categories for its work this year and hopes to bring home awards for President of the Year, Business Program of the Year and Alumnus of the Year. The finalists were chosen from more than 600 submissions; and winners will be selected by a panel of previous HBCU Award winners, presidents and chancellors, media members, alumni, and students. The 2016 winners will be announced at the HBCU Awards on Friday, July 15th in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Edison O. Jackson, B-CU’s sixth president, is a finalist for President of the Year. Dr. Jackson’s accomplishments over the past few years have been commended as he takes the university through a radical transformation. Dr. Jackson says the university is “Ascending the Greatness” on all fronts – new faculty, more research, expanded exposure, physical reconstruction and most importantly, student opportunities and success. “It is an honor to be recognized as a finalist for the HBCU Awards. I am just so thankful to have a Board of Trustees that believes in my vision and a supporting faculty, staff and student body who are willing to see it through,” says President Edison O. Jackson.

B-CU alumnus Rufus Wilson was also nominated and chosen as a finalist for “Alumnus of the Year”. Trustee Rufus Wilson is a graduate and long-time supporter of B-CU. He launched the Wanda & Janice Wilson Foundation (WJWF) as a way to honor the legacy of his late mother and wife. The main focus of the WJWF is the Wilson Rotunda Legacy Tree fundraising project that is permanently housed in the College of Liberal Arts building. Trustee Wilson announced his family's personal pledge of $250,000 and is dedicated to raising more funds for the Wilson Rotunda Legacy Tree. Support for WJWF offers educational opportunities for deserving students who want to obtain a college degree.

The College of Business and Entrepreneurship is a finalist for Business Program of the Year. Bethune-Cookman University’s College of Business & Entrepreneurship (CBE) prepares students for careers in accounting, business administration, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems management, marketing, and international business. The CBE launched the Venture Incubation Program through its Center for Entrepreneurship & Economic Development (B-CU CEED). The Venture Incubation Program provides free services, such as marketing, financing, strategic planning, and business development to Daytona Beach startups and small businesses. CEED was also selected by the Office of Women's Business Ownership of the Small Business Administration to serve as one of its challenge competition hosts. The InnovateHER Challenge was sponsored by Microsoft and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

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About Bethune Cookman University:

Founded in 1904 by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) today sustains her legacy of faith, scholarship and service through its relationship with the United Methodist Church and its commitment to academic excellence and civic engagement. B-CU offers 38 degrees on its main campus and online college. Located in Daytona Beach, B-CU is one of three private, historically black colleges in the state of Florida. The institution boasts a diverse and international faculty and student body of nearly 4,000. For more information, visit www.cookman.edu.